Miracle in Russia: All but two of 172 passengers aboard plane that crashed emerge alive from rubble

A packed Russian airliner crashed during an emergency landing outside Moscow yesterday, but miraculously only two passengers died.

A Dagestan Airlines jet carrying 163 passengers and nine crew members splintered into three sections as it skidded off a runway at Domodedovo airport, rolled over uneven ground and slammed into trees, Russian officials said.

Shortly after the crash, passengers started surfacing from the smoldering wreck — some holding luggage — as firefighters and medics arrived at the scene.

Nearly 90 passengers were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, according to officials.

The crash occurred 30 minutes after take-off from another airport 50 miles away, when the flight crew reported the jet's two engines failed and the navigation system was inoperable. A third engine failed during the landing.

"The reason why is not yet known," said Sergei Izvolvsky, an official at Russia's state-owned aviation agency.

Russian officials said it would open a criminal probe into the crash for possible violations of transport safety rules, according to local media reports.

The airliner, a Tupolev-154 plane, was the same type that crashed in April, killing Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 90 other passengers.

Some Russian airlines have stopped using the Soviet-era plane because of its age and history of recent crashes.

The flight was headed for Makhachkala, capital of the Russian province of Dagestan.